Cafes & Mobile Food Services

Cafes and mobile food trucks are fantastic spots for having single serve products. People like visiting these places for the variety of options, so why not branch out a bit from your bakery cases or labour intensive kitchen to some easy to sell snacks which don’t involve additional cost such as packaging like bags or containers?

Cafes

We love visiting cafes all over the nation because they’re all a bit different in what they offer. Whether it’s having lunch with friends or simply stopping in for something to take on the road while travelling, we like seeing variety. Unfortunately, if you’re travelling with a larger family, the cost of items in the case or meals cooked in the kitchen can certainly add up fast.

Owners should be well aware of this and offer some less expensive options in case money is an issue for your potential customer or they aren’t hungry enough to want something substantial to eat. Smaller items set on the counter near the till is a good spot, since that’s where the customer stands and will be looking down. Other areas to place items would be in a basket or stand on top of the food cabinet.

Be sure to make the price prominent so there’s no need for the customer to ask. Studies have proven that when a price is not displayed on an item, the less likely it is to sell. People either think if they have to ask, it probably costs too much or if the place is busy, they don’t want to distract someone further by asking a question. Prices should never be hidden or too small to read from a distance, so you may want to act as your own customer and walk in! Look around…if you can’t read something on the board behind the service area, chances are, others can’t either.

Folks on-the-go and just stopping into a town while passing through may want to get only pre-packaged food for the sake of convenience. Or maybe they have children in the car who don’t like sharing something with their siblings. Having a variety of different single serve options covers what they might like. Maybe the adults prefer something a bit healthier, yet protein packed without a lot of calories, such as nuts. For the kids, maybe a large cookie would suffice for them to hold them over until dinner.

Regardless of what you sell in your cafe, having a good variety means more chances for a sale. You can almost bet if people buy nuts, they’re also going to buy a bottled drink to go with them! Both of these items could add up to the cost of a bakery case item or less and the customer walks away happy and you get the sale.

Mobile Food Trucks

Food trucks are increasingly popular at events, concerts and weekend markets. Often, you’ll find some in your town on weekend evenings, giving you an additional choice for dinner. Counter space is limited without a lot of options for previewing what you might get.

This is another opportunity for creative ways of displaying single serving packaged items, either to go along with what’s on offer or simply an alternative if you’ve run out of something a customer wanted. For example, you could purchase a lightweight clear plastic bowl and drill some small holes in it to create a hanging “basket” of sorts. This way, even if it was up higher than eye level, it’s still easy to see the contents. Don’t forget to display the price as well. Depending on the size, you could easily fit a bunch of single serve packaged items inside and as it becomes depleted, just toss more in.

Don’t forget about the kids! Sometimes people like checking out what you have for sale because it can be a cheaper option than going to a cafe or restaurant. Having a variety of prices with a good selection of products makes it easy for you and more tempting for them. If you also sell coffee, having a good quality selection of chocolates or cookies are an easy sale! And don’t be shy, ask if they’d like something further to go with their purchase.

We’re firm believers in free samples. By offering up a taste of something delicious to a hungry customer can almost always be a way of getting it sold. We love our Molly Woppy cookies because they’re handmade in NZ with quality ingredients. You could easily cut up one into quite a few bite size pieces to offer potential customers and more than likely, you’ll end up selling more than enough to make up for your sample investment! Don’t forget to offer some to the kids (with their parent’s permission of course). They’ll be the ones who ask mum or dad to get them one!

Having some small packaged goods can be an easy way to make some extra money without a lot of effort. It not only gives your customers more choice depending on what they’re in the mood for, but also allows you less work to get it sold. Long shelf life items such as the ones we sell make having single serve products an easy choice!

Please get in touch if you’d like to become a reseller. Our friendly sales manager resides in Central Hawke’s Bay, but has customers all over New Zealand. Contact us if you have any questions or visit our FAQ section.

Whistler Foods hand picks the products we carry and taste tests every one of them before deciding to offer them to our customers. We believe that quality sells, so our standards must be met. You can rest assured that you’ll be getting a delicious, satisfaction guaranteed product.